ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo characterize the efficacy components of Guizhi Jia Gegentang（GGT） in intervening influenza virus pneumonia by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-electrostatic field orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS）. MethodBALB/c mice were randomly divided into normal group and GGT group（36 g·kg-1·d-1） with six mice in each group. GGT group was continuously administered GGT extract for 5 d， while the normal group was administered an equal amount of ultrapure water. Serum and lung tissue were collected after administration， and UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS was used to characterize the prototypical and metabolic components of GGT in serum and lung tissue of mice. The components existed simultaneously in the serum and lung tissue of mice from the GGT group were defined as its functional components， and the targets of efficacy components were searched by SwissTargetPrediction database， and GeneCards database was used to query the target of influenza virus pneumonia， and then the intersection was taken to obtain potential targets of GGT for intervening in the disease. Protein-protein interaction（PPI） network analysis of potential targets was performed by STRING database， and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG） pathway enrichment analysis on potential targets was performed by Metascape. ResultA total of 29 prototypical components and 28 metabolic components of GGT were detected in the drug-containing serum of mice， of which 11 prototypical components and 4 metabolic components were detected in the lung tissue of mice. The main metabolic pathways included reduction， hydroxylation， methylation， glucuronidation and sulfation. The results of PPI network and KEGG analysis showed that these functional components may act through their effects on targets such as albumin（ALB）， epidermal growth factor receptor（EGFR）， steroid receptor coactivator（SRC）， Toll-like receptor 4（TLR4）， nuclear transcription factor（NF）-κB and adhesion junction. ConclusionThe 11 prototypical components and 4 metabolites present simultaneously in the drug-containing serum and lung tissue of mice may be the potential therapeutic components of GGT in interfering with influenza viral pneumonia， and act through interfering with inflammatory metabolic pathways. This study can provide a reference for the mechanism study of GGT in the treatment of influenza viral pneumonia.
ABSTRACT
Serum pharmacochemistry of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is a new subject based on the identification of migrating components in serum after oral administration of TCM.After more than 20 years of development,serum pharmacochemistry of TCM has been widely recognized and applied by researchers.Based on the references related with the serum pharmacochemistry from these years,the research summarized the methods of serum pharmacochemistry of TCM,for example,selection of experimental animals,preparation of gastric irrigation,design of drug administration scheme,method and time of adoption blood,pretreatment of serum containing drug,as well as analysis of serum sample.In addition,the paper will emphatically introduce the application of serum pharmacochemistryof TCM,which includes clarifying the substance basis of Chinese medicine,establishing the quality standard of TCM,and clarifying the compatibility of compound Chinese medicine.At the same time,we will through some existing problems to look forward to the future of serum pharmacochemistryof TCM,so that people can have a comprehensive understanding of serum pharmacochemistryof TCM,hoping to lay a foundation for the further application of this method in TCM research.
ABSTRACT
The chinmedomics method was used to explore the effect of Nanshi capsule on endogenous metabolites of rats with kidney-yang deficiency syndrome, investigate the metabolites and metabolic pathways closely related to kidney-yang deficiency syndrome (KYDS)and identify the therapeutic basis of Nanshi capsule(NPC)as well as its action mechanism for KYDS. The routine biochemical indexes of serum were detected and histomorphology was observed. Based on the chinmedomics technology platform, discriminatory analysis in multivariate modes was conducted for rat blood and urine, thus to investigate the biomarkers of KYDS and the therapeutic effect of NPC against KYDS. Meanwhile, the main constituents of NPC in rat serum were also detected to analyze its correlation between the constituents in vivo and the biomarkers of KYDS, and determine the potential effective compounds for therapeutic effect. Eleven biomarkers of KYDS were identified in the rat models, involving steroid hormone biosynthesis, tryptophan metabolism and tyrosine metabolism. It was found that NPC could regulate steroid hormone biosynthesis, tryptophan metabolism and tyrosine metabolism; PCMS analysis showed that caffeic acid, 2-hydroxy-1-methoxy-anthraquinone, 1-hydroxy-2-methoxyanthraquinone, ferulic acid glucuronide conjugation, deacetylasperulosidic acid, cynaroside, betaine and umbelliferone were the main effective compounds of NPC for KYDS. In this study, cynaroside, betaine, umbelliferone and other compounds in NPC could integrally regulate the disturbance of metabolic profile in KYDS by improving the hormone synthesis, hormone synthesis pathway, hormone synthesis and release pathway in tyrosine metabolism and linoleic acid synthesis pathway in linoleic acid metabolism. These results indicated that the NPC had the characteristics of multi-pathway, multi-target and overall regulation in the treatment of KYDS. Chinmedomics approach can provide methodology support to discover innovative drug from traditional Chinese medicine.
ABSTRACT
In order to evaluate the advantages and problems of serum pharmacochemistry of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for screening active ingredients, all literatures concerned from 2003 to 2013 were searched and analyzed. According to our statistics, there were 88 Chinese materia medica (CMM) formulae or single herbs involved; Nine hundred and seventy components were absorbed into blood, including 582 prototype components and 388 metabolites; Among them, 270 prototype components (46.4%) were identified, and only 37 metabolites (9.53%) were identified. Further investigation suggested that 80.37% of the absorbed prototype components identified were pharmacologically active according to relative reports. Thus, the above method is not only fast, accurate, and cost-saving, but also easy to operate, popularize, and utilize in most screening cases of CMM. However, this method has certain limitations at the range of application and problems such as non-standard, non-system, no indepth, low internationalization or industry promotion.